Coordinated network-wide administration of exchanges

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an administration device ( 1 ) for administering and modifying operating functions of exchanges ( 6   a    . . . 6   n ) in a telephone network. The operating functions are administered and modified by means of administration commands. Said device comprises co-ordination means ( 2 ) for co-ordinating operating functions concerning several exchanges ( 6   a    . . . 6   n ). The invention also relates to a method for administering and modifying operating functions of exchanges ( 6   a    . . . 6   n ), used in this administration device ( 1 ).

CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application claims priority to International Application No.PCT/DE01/01656 which was published in the German language on Nov. 11,2001.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an administration device foradministering and changing operating functions in a telephone networkand to a method used in this administration device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Switching centers serve to connect subscribers, i.e., their terminals,with a telephone network. A plurality of switching centers is present ina telephone network. The switching centers are linked with one another.

The administration of operating functions in the control software of theswitching centers takes place by administration commands (e.g., by wayof proprietary Man-Machine Language commands, MML, or standardized Q3commands), which are input at a console and are sent to the switchingcenter from there. Such administrative tasks can be, for example,logical setup, modification, or deletion of a subscriber's terminal.

In the case of some operating functions, other switching centers alsohave to be coordinated if a change occurs in one switching center, i.e.,the different administration commands to the affected switching centersmust be precisely coordinated with one another. An example of this isthe adaptation of routing tables in several switching centers to achange in one switching center. If the administration commands or theirparameters deviate from this logical coordination in this connection, asthe result of incorrect input, for example, then network-widefunctionality of the corresponding operating function is no longerpossible in the telephone network.

In the state of the art, coordination of network-wide administration iscarried out manually. In this connection, if there is a change in anoperating function, all of the necessary administration commands aremanually compiled by one operator (i.e., by one authorized person).Local operators then send the different administration commands, whichhave been coordinated with one another, to the appropriate switchingcenter by way of a console (referred to as an administration devicehereinafter).

The disadvantage of this solution is that it requires significantadministration effort because of the manual compilation of manyadministration commands for an administrative task or operatingfunction.

In addition, when there is a large number of administration commands,errors can very easily occur during compilation or entry of thecommands. Then, the feedback from all the administration commands mustbe collected and manually assessed for an analysis of the errors and thepossible effects on coordinated administration.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an aspect of the present invention to make available anadministration device for administering and changing operating functionsof switching centers. Accordingly, an administration device administersand changes operating functions of switching centers in a telephonenetwork. The operating functions of the switching centers areadministered and changed by administration commands that are receivedfrom the administration device. An input device inputs data with regardto an operating function to be changed. Coordination means forcoordinating operating functions that relate to several switchingcenters is provided. The coordination means automatically calculates theappropriate administration commands for all the affected switchingcenters after data concerning an operating function to be changed hasbeen input, and sends the commands to the affected switching centers.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method used in thisadministration device for administering and changing operating functionsof switching centers is provided. A method for administering andchanging operating functions of switching centers in a telephone networkis provided. The operating functions of the switching centers areadministered and changed by administration commands. The operatingfunctions that relate to several switching centers are automaticallycalculated after data concerning an operating function to be changed hasbeen input for all the affected switching centers. The operatingfunctions are automatically sent to the affected switching centers.Thereby, a reduction in the error rate during the administration andmodification of operating functions in switching centers is madepossible.

According an aspect of the invention, the administration commandsrequired for an administrative task or operating function are centrallycalculated, i.e., generated by the administration device according tothe invention, and sent to all the affected switching centers.

This automatic coordination and direct link with the switching centersresults in a tremendous savings of time. This makes it possible tosignificantly increase productivity in performing administrative tasks(by a factor>100), which allows the operator of a telephone network andthe switching centers to broadly market services and features thatrequire complex administration.

Furthermore, the automatic generation of the administration commandsreduces and even precludes errors in manual coordination oradministration. The administration can therefore be performed in acentralized facility, by specially trained technical personnel, therebyeliminating expensive training of a large number of local operators.

In order to be able to correctly calculate and generate the operatingfunctions and the resulting administration commands, it is necessary forthe relevant information (data) in this regard to be stored centrally ina memory device. The administration device according to an aspect of theinvention assesses the respective data from the memory device in orderto implement the corresponding operating functions.

The invention can be used in a particularly advantageous manner in theso-called CENTREX service (Centralized Office Exchange Service), inorder to administer groups and objects contained in these groups. Thisuse will be explained in greater detail below on the basis of apreferred exemplary embodiment.

Changing operating functions that relate to routing of connections, inparticular, has effects on several switching centers. Therefore it isadvantageous to use the present invention for administering and changingrouting tables in switching centers.

A standardized graphical user interface is available to the user oroperator for inputting operating functions to be administered; thisfacilitates familiarization with applications that are used fornetwork-wide administration.

Since the administrative tasks are centralized, centralized processingof feedback from the switching centers affected by an administrativetask is also made possible. This significantly facilitatesrecord-keeping and error analysis.

In the following, the present invention will be explained in greaterdetail on the basis of preferred exemplary embodiments, making referenceto the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the administration device,according to the invention, in a telephone network.

FIG. 2 is an example of the coordination of administrative tasksaccording to an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of the coordination of administrative tasksaccording to another aspect of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As is evident from FIG. 1, the administration device 1 according to theinvention includes a terminal or a console with an input device(keyboard, mouse, etc.), a screen 4, coordination means 2 forcoordinating operating functions, and a memory device 3 for storing thedata required for administering and calculating the administrationcommands. A spatial separation of the administration device 1 and theadministration of data in the memory device 3 would also be possible.

Coordination of the administration and modification of operatingfunctions that have an effect on several switching centers thereforetakes place in a centralized manner. The coordination means 2 forcoordinating operating functions are implemented in the administrationdevice 1 as software in the administration device 1. The administrationdevice could be one or more computers (PCs) on which a program runs thatfulfills the tasks of the coordination means 2, for example. A graphicaluser interface serves for inputting the data, i.e., the operatingfunction to be changed, which is necessary in order to be able to carryout a specific administrative task. The administration commands areautomatically generated from a minimum set of user entries, and areautomatically sent to the affected switching centers. In this way,several thousand administration commands (e.g., MML commands) can becalculated and generated in the background from a single screen entry.

The logic for the task, in each instance, for network-wideadministration, is anchored in the applications software. The operatoris therefore relieved of manual coordination.

Because of the tremendous simplification of the user interface foradministration, good record-keeping of the operating functions of sentadministration commands that have been carried out is required. For thisreason, the confirmations (feedback) from the switching centers inresponse to the administration commands are collected and stored in adatabase.

In this connection, the confirmations can be represented in threedifferent granularity levels, for example. In one level, an overview ofdifferent administration tasks that have been carried out is given. In amore detailed level, the switching centers that were addressed for aspecific administration task are shown. In the most detailed level, theindividual commands to a switching center and the respective feedbackare shown. At every level, the display shows whether the task wassuccessfully or unsuccessfully completed (e.g., in total, at oneswitching center, or individual commands).

In the following, the present invention will be described for theadministration of groups in the CENTREX service.

CENTREX is a special service in a network node, i.e., in a switchingcenter, which makes the functionality of the switching center similar toa private branch exchange available to part of the connected objects(e.g., terminals, private branch exchanges). In this connection, theseobjects are organized in groups, with a group corresponding in itsfunctionality to a private branch exchange. This service is useful forcompanies, for example, since no separate private branch exchange has tobe acquired when using this service. Furthermore, with this service, itis possible to set up groups distributed in several switching centers,by way of the telephone network, whose objects can be reached, among oneanother, by way of a private telephone number plan. In this connection,the individual groups and their objects also have the function of aprivate branch exchange; the objects can be reached, among one another,by way of a private number plan. Depending on the network size, CENTREXgroups that are distributed over a thousand switching centers arepossible.

In order to create a telephone number plan, the administration commandsto the affected switching centers have to be coordinated, since a changein one switching center (e.g., setting up a new group) can affect otherswitching centers. In this case, an administration task can compriseseveral hundred to several thousand administration commands to over onethousand switching centers.

FIG. 2 shows the possibility of group cross-dialing (Group Dialing).Here, objects (e.g., terminals 7) of group 1, for example, are reachedfrom all other groups by the group dialing number (e.g., 77) plus theinternal telephone number (e.g., 888). This group dialing number musttherefore be set up in every switching center where a cohesive group isset up, in order to be able to reach the group 1 or a subscriberconnected with it from every related CENTREX group (e.g., branch officesof a company). For this purpose, every group has its own specific code(corresponding to the group dialing number), which must be set up in allthe other groups and switching centers. In the case of 1000 groups, thismeans a total of 1 million MML commands: a command in a switching centerof a Pro-CENTREX group to establish the group dialing number, and onecommand for each of the other 999 CENTREX groups, in order to enter thedialing number there.

Another possibility of how a CENTREX subscriber (e.g., at switchingcenter 6 a) can reach another CENTREX subscriber at another switchingcenter (e.g., 6 b) involves setting up a uniform, network-wide telephonenumber plan as shown in FIG. 3. Here, every subscriber can be reached byway of his/her terminal 7, by way of a telephone number and a groupdialing number. For this purpose, the internal telephone number of thesubscriber (e.g., 888) must be clear network-wide, within all thecohesive groups. In this connection, the telephone number is set up atall the switching centers over which the cohesive CENTREX groups aredistributed; only in this way can it be assured that the subscriber canbe reached by way of the telephone network. In the case of 1000 groupswith 10 subscribers each, this means a volume of 10 million MMLcommands.

According to the present invention, the coordination means 2 forcoordinating operating functions are made available for setting up thetelephone number plans as described, as are coordination functions tohandle the tasks described, for other areas of the administration ofCENTREX groups.

For example, for setting up a network-wide internal telephone numberplan, the group dialing number at which the individual groups aresupposed to be able to be reached according to FIG. 1, and the internaltelephone number of the subscriber according to FIG. 2, are supposed tobe set up in all the affected switching centers. Calculating,generating, and sending the administration commands necessary for thisto the groups in question in the affected switching centers, in order toensure that the respective group or a subscriber can be reached, takesplace automatically, according to the invention.

Furthermore, there is the possibility of placing complicatedadministration tasks into a queue and determining a point in time atwhich the commands are automatically started, e.g., at a time with a lowload in the switching centers.

1. An administration device for administering and changing operatingfunctions of switching centers in a telephone network, the operatingfunctions of the switching centers being administered and changed byadministration commands that are received from the administrationdevice, comprising: an input device for inputting data relating to anoperating function to be changed; and coordination unit for coordinatingoperating functions that relate to several switching centers, thecoordination unit automatically calculating the administration commandsfor all affected switching centers after data concerning an operatingfunction to be changed have been input, and sending the administrationcommands to the affected switching centers, wherein data required foradministering and calculating the administration commands is centrallystored in a memory device.
 2. The administration device as recited inclaim 1, wherein administering and changing the operating functions ofthe switching centers is done in a CENTREX service.
 3. Theadministration device as recited in claim 1, wherein the administrationdevice is used for administering and changing routing tables.
 4. Theadministration device as recited in claim 1, wherein a graphical userinterface is available for inputting the operating functions to bechanged.
 5. The administration device as recited in claim 1, wherein theadministration device receives and processes feedback from correspondingswitching centers concerning implementation of the receivedadministration.
 6. A method for administering and changing operatingfunctions of switching centers in a telephone network, comprising:administering and changing the operating functions of the switchingcenters by administration commands; and automatically calculatingoperating functions that relate to several switching after dataconcerning an operating function to be changed has been input, for allaffected switching centers, and automatically sent to the affectedswitching centers, wherein data required for administering andcalculating the administration commands is stored centrally.
 7. Themethod as recited in claim 6, the operating functions of groups andobjects contained in the groups administered and changed in a CENTREXservice.
 8. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein routing tables areadministered and changed.
 9. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein agraphical user interface is used for inputting the operating functionsto be changed.
 10. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein feedbackfrom the corresponding switching centers about implementation of theadministration commands sent is received and processed centrally.